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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26160592">Spring And A Storm</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/gremlinny/pseuds/gremlinny'>gremlinny</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Grinning Man - Philips &amp; Teitler/Grose &amp; Morris &amp; Philips &amp; Teitler/Grose</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Canon Disabled Character, Chronic Pain, F/M, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Thunderstorms, canon blind character</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 13:14:17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>564</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26160592</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/gremlinny/pseuds/gremlinny</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Rainy days are always hard.</p><p>The wooden boards of the cart swell and shrink with rainwater, a chill seeps in no matter the season, and Grinpayne can’t get out of bed.</p><p>It’s always a challenge to work through the pain on a normal day, but there’s no attempt made during a storm.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Dea/Grinpayne | Gwynplaine Trelaw</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>19</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Spring And A Storm</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Title is from Spring And A Storm by Tally Hall. </p><p>Bit of a TW in this for descriptions of chronic pain, and a mention of somewhat disordered eating? Grinpayne doesn’t like eating because he doesn’t like things being in his mouth, and he knows it looks kinda gross.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Rainy days are always hard.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The wooden boards of the cart swell and shrink with rainwater, a chill seeps in no matter the season, and Grinpayne can’t get out of bed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It’s always a challenge to work through the pain on a normal day, but there’s no attempt made during a storm. His nerves are on fire and his jaw’s clenched so tight that he can’t talk, focusing on breathing in and out to keep from crying. An ache settles into his joints, making him feel just as stiff and wooden as the puppets they use in their shows, curled up in bed in a fixed position he can’t hope to move out of. Crimson Lethe only helps in a much higher dosage than usual, enough to let him make it through in a barely conscious daze.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dea isn’t much better.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The rain makes her head spin, pressure building up behind her eyes until she’s seeing white spots like stars against the field of darkness. Nausea and dizziness make her hands shake and her knees weak, and any trace of light that meets her eyes pierces through her head like a dagger, bouncing around in her skull with a pain that would render her blind if she wasn’t already. She joins Grinpayne on the bed, laying down next to him with her head under the blankets. Each flash of lightning and echo of thunder make her flinch, and Grinpayne manages to shift around to wrap his aching limbs around her, and she lays her head on his chest to listen to his heartbeat instead of the pounding of rain overhead. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He feels like an old man, worn ragged by the world despite only being twenty-four, struck down by simple things like a change in the weather. And Dea, at twenty, plagued with migraines and the pain of glaucoma, worsened by the storm that presses against the shutters at the window. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Grinpayne doesn’t get up, doesn’t move, doesn’t speak. Dea has to lean on the furniture or Mojo when she stands, but she’s quick to lose her balance, so Ursus takes it upon himself to bring them food and water. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Grinpayne has an aversion to eating, even on normal days. The feeling of anything being in his mouth is extremely unpleasant, and his lack of cheeks or lips means that eating is an especially messy—and embarrassing—ordeal. Soup is a staple meal for the three of them, cheap and simple to make, and it’s the easiest thing to convince Grinpayne to drink. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ursus has to prop the younger man up and hold him steady, guiding the cup to his mouth because he can’t bear to move his hand any higher on his own, and Grinpayne doesn’t notice the taste of medicine mixed in with the broth. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dea reaches an arm out to grope at the empty space where Grinpayne had been laying, seeking his warmth, so Ursus eases him back down onto the bed, and the two of them return to their positions, each filling in the negative space around the other.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The world still howls and screams around them, pressing in with suffering and discomfort, but the companionship through the pain reminds them that all storms will come to an end. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And each time the weather changes for the worse, they lay there under the blankets, taking refuge in eachother, until it passes.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I mention in this that Dea has glaucoma; it’s not the reason she’s blind, but clearly it’s not inconsequential. I also like to think that she has some level of light perception as well, so she is Not safe from photosensitivity. </p><p>I’m castledock on tumblr.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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